Ffffrosty

Thanks for the leads... I'll reach out to them to see if they can help. Any leads on anyone who makes new saya that are truly breathtaking?

Hi Eric. Thanks this seems like good advice. It is cracked all the way through the saya on both sides, rather than just surface deep. So, it will probably need wood glue and clamps. The damage was actually most likely caused by a large package being dropped on the tsuka which popped the mouth of the saya open. Does anyone know if Moses does repairs like this? Thanks, Mark

Hi All, Sadly EMS killed this saya. Any thoughts on whether this can be repaired and who I should contact for repair? Here are pics... Thanks, Mark

Hey Mark, Just have to tease me right?!?! Okay, when can I buy your Shigeyuki so I can have a true daisho? :D

Hi Mark, Great to here that you haven't had any issue here in the USA. I agree the VAT seems like a serious problem for our European friends. Certainly wouldn't make me happy at all, not to mention the reality that the customs idiots are more likely to damage precious antiques in the process! Incidentally Mark, I have decided to join the Bungo Takada Club. I agree with you that these folks are the undeserved underdogs, but at least the blades are beefy and beautiful and if I ever need to fight a Samurai at least I know my blades are up to the task :lol:

Thanks guys, I am holding my breath with excitement! It is a NBTHK ranked Tokubetsu Kicho by Bungo Takada den Fujiwara Shigeyuki. I have the scanner all set to run as soon as it gets here. So, more pictures to come! Mark

Hi All, Just wanted to share a couple of very nice pictures that Syd sent me of my "new" old katana that is soon to be in route from Japan. Very excited to say the least. :D Mark Any comments are welcome!

Really does seems like this is country specific in terms of who is consistently having packages opened. It is interesting that since 911 that the US has invested heavily in x-ray technology, so it seems like they are choosing this to physical inspection. Anyone in the US have their packages opened?

Wow, Stephan, sorry to hear about this. I would be very frustrated with a system like that. Hopefully none of the blades were damaged.

Seems like most of the actual inspections have been in the UK. Henry where are you located?

Hi All, During another discussion an interesting comment was presented that I thought may make a very good survey. With the onset on x-ray technology at the customs checkpoints is it possible that international sword shipments aren't being opened for inspection, but instead x-rayed? How many of you received an internationally shipped sword in the past year that was opened and inspected by customs? If it was what country are you in? This seems like an interesting and illuminating opportunity. Thanks! Mark

Thanks for the thoughts, Paul. Interesting comment on the x-ray inspection, this would make a lot more sense and be much more efficient. How many people here have had swords that have been shipped international opened by customs for inspection in the past year?

Thanks Grey, very good feedback and thoughts. The blade I am having shipped has a shirasaya and a koshirae. I am requesting the blade and shirasaya be shipped separately from the koshirae. I like the carpet tube idea a lot. Any other ideas?

Hi All, I have been doing quite a bit of research on the best way to package a nihonto to insure no damage to the blade or saya and allow the people at customs to inspect it without causing damage or difficulty in repacking. Here is an interesting idea I came across from David Hofhine and although it discusses shipping bare blades, it seems like a great idea for any blade: Special steps must be taken when shipping a bare blade, but it can be done very safely and reliably. A bare blade will also give you a smaller and lighter package that will cost less to ship and be less likely to be bent. To ship just the blade, take the blade out of the mounting and wrap it in paper such as newspaper to prevent it from being scuffed or finger printed. The next step is to mount the blade onto a wooden board that is longer then the overall length of the blade. A common 1"x2" to 1"x4" works very well. Drill a hole in the board and put a heavy wire (at least 12 gauge solid) or heavy rope or similar through the hole in the board and the hole in the tang. THIS IS ESSENTIAL FOR SHIPPING AN UNMOUNTED BLADE! Further strap the blade onto the board with LOTS of heavy strapping tape. If you ship a bare blade without strapping it down like this the tip will crash into the end of the package and be damaged and possibly cause injury!!! Strapping the blade down like this protects it from the worst forms of shipping damage. It will keep the blade from poking through the end of the packing. It will also prevent the blade from being bent if the package is crushed. Attached is a picture of what this looks like. Also, has anyone had any experience shipping with carpet tubes? Thanks all for sharing your experience and wisdom! Mark

Does anyone know of a courier service that works directly with the airlines to allow passengers flying from Japan to the destination country to check a sword as part of their luggage and then to turn it over to a shipping service once it has cleared customs in the destination country? Just trying to figure out some options before I trust FedEx to ship my Nihonto safely from Japan.

I am in the process of purchasing a sword in Japan and have been looking into the options. Has anyone had any experience with shipping via UPS to the USA? Also, what kind of concerns have people been having with FedEx and was it to the USA? Thanks, Mark

Hi All, Can anyone please help with the translation on this shinsa paper please? I am interested in a complete translation if possible. Thanks! Mark

Hi, It was on a blade that I was bidding on on eBay, but sadly I did win it. Thanks for the help though. Mark

Hi All, What does this translate into English as? Yakumo Shinsoku shoji sasa ni arare I found that, shinsoku means "Breath of God" But, I need help with the rest. Thanks! Mark

That is a good possibility, because after I took the pictures I gave the blade a very good up and down with a lint free cloth, because of all of the lint in the picture. It looks much better now. Thanks for the insight.

The feedback on the blade is appreciated. To clarify where my eye and knowledge are, I am definitely a newbie and understand there is a huge amount to learn with regards to many aspects of this type of collecting. With that said I must be clear with how I see this. I am not doing this for investment, for the ability to say I have a prestigious blade with pedigree or any thing other than appreciating the very real amount of time, effort, and focus that went into the creation of a blade that is for the makers was a religious and philosophical event. I also am grateful to hold something that has survived for over 200 years and is in amazing condition for it's age. As has been pointed out and I will certainly agree my pictures are not doing this blade justice at all and my scanner looks even worse as they are out of focus. Looking at it right now, I know what steel wool does to metal and I have VERY good eye sight. There is no sign of any scrubbing off of rust with steel wool on this blade at all and the pics of the nakago are not true to life either as there is zero visual sign in good light of any active rust (I double checked). I do feel a polish would return this blade to a more pristine state visually, but also agree that it may not necessarily be the best choice for the blade, which for right now has no significant flaws other than not being the "prettiest girl at the dance". Interestingly enough, I don't quite agree that the tsuba may be cast as there is no seam at all and the cloud or swirling water design is very intricate. So at the end of it all, I appreciate the feedback and comments which help me track down this blade's possible history. I am very happy overall with it, and when I finally decide to spend more of my funds on a much more expensive blade hopefully it will be a well regarded blade. For now I am very happy with my date for the prom.

The clarity really helps guys, thanks. I do have to understand that you all are at a much higher level than I right now, the good news is I paid $750 for this one and for my current level I am very happy. I'll still work on the scans so we can at least MAYBE pin down more of an age and maybe more. Thanks again everyone for the education.

Okay guys you're freaking me out here... you've seen worse... My pictures really do suck, because it is way better than what it looks. Let me get on that scan, so I can show you what I see. I'm just happy that as far as I can tell, there are no major flaws or damage and even though it needs a polish it has a very active hamon. Can't really tell the hada, simply because I am not quite there yet on education, but it definitely has a hada. At the end of it all is it work paying over a thousand for a full polish on it?

Thank you both, great tips on scanning and the book. I have had my eyes on the book for some time and will move forward with getting it on Amazon. I'll see what I can do with my scanner as an experiment. Let's see how they come out and I'll post them here. So overall, not a bad sword, right?

Hi Jean, I'm not disappointed at all, VERY happy actually. It is REAL and it is very old, and I didn't pay and arm and a leg, so I'm happy. As for the pic, no offense at all and I did think about using my scanner, so I'll give that a try today. Thanks for the input and to be clear shinto narrows it's age down to 1600 and 1781, right? I have read that shinto blades aren't the best, but then again I am not going to war with it, but did wealthy business men (non-samurai) order and carry wakizashi during this time period? I'll run some scans and see how they come out... Thanks again!